State of Missouri v. Shane L. Mackey

Springfield, Missouri second degree murder criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant.

Sometime after 8:00 p.m. on November 8, 2020, Victim, who was Mackey's fiance, was brutally beaten to death in the home she shared with Mackey. The next morning, sometime after 5:00 a.m., Mackey called 911.



The police were dispatched to the couple's home, and upon arrival, they saw Mackey performing chest compressions on Victim. Victim had no pulse. She had a cut to her forehead, her eyes were swollen, "black and purple in color," there was a dime-size hole on her face, her lip appeared busted, and she had an injury to her chin and bruises throughout her chest and shoulders. She also had blood in her hair, bruising, abrasions, scratches on her legs, and fractures to her sternum and to eight ribs. An autopsy revealed strangulation and/or impacts "to the front of the neck or impacts to the head" "had partially separated [Victim's] skull from the upper part of the spine."



Police noticed Mackey was covered in blood and had fresh injuries on him. During an interview, Mackey told police the couple had gone to a restaurant the night before and, after the meal, he discovered Victim was gone. Mackey said he decided to walk home, which took about 30 minutes, and when he got home, Victim told him she got a ride home with someone else. Mackey claimed, upon his arrival home, Victim was covered in blood, had a big gash on her head, and was standing, pressing a button on a coffee pot in the kitchen. According to Mackey, Victim would not tell him what had happened and told him not to call 911 because she did not have health insurance. It was later discovered Victim did

have health insurance and had used it several times in the months before the murder. It was also later discovered that Mackey's DNA was a major component found on Victim's hands.



The case proceeded to a bench trial. The trial court found Mackey guilty of Victim's murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In its judgment, the trial court expressly rejected Mackey's story to police:



Based on the totality of the circumstances, it defies logic that Mackey would not have called 911 upon discovering his fiance brutally beaten and the house in total disarray with blood in every room of the house. [Victims'] text to her son supports the conclusion she walked home and did not receive a ride. Furthermore, both physicians indicated that after all the injuries occurred, [Victim] would not have been able to stand in the kitchen and push buttons on a coffee pot. Therefore, it is unbelievable that she sustained any injury before Mackey arrived home. Additionally, considering the multiple scratches and abrasions sustained by Mackey, the fact [Victim] had defensive wounds, and the fact that Mackey's DNA was the major component on [Victim's] hands, this [c]ourt finds beyond a reasonable doubt [Mackey] repeatedly struck [Victim] during a physical altercation, causing blunt force injuries to her head and neck which resulted in her death. Therefore, [Mackey] is found guilty on Count I, murder in the second degree.